Jensen, who headed the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara from 1994 to 1998, traces the history of efforts undertaken to determine the sovereignty of the territory. He focuses on identity as it became an issue in the proposed referendum: who is a Sahrawi, who is a Western Saharan, and who should be entitled to vote on whether to become independent or to integrate into Morocco. There being no oil at stake, the vaunted International Community has taken little notice of the conflict. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR
